you're gonna miss me so bad when i'm gone
by suchamystery
Summary: a collection of bethyl drabbles. occasionally canon compliant, most often not.
1. 1

A/N: so this is my first time writing anything fic related in 3 years, lol. don't be too hard on me, please? also, i'm not sure if this will actually become a collection of drabbles but i figured i might as well leave the opportunity open.

* * *

It didn't make sense to Daryl how one person could care about him so much.

Even before the world turned to shit, he was used to feeling like people just didn't _care_. They didn't care about how he was feeling or what he was thinking. The people who pretended to care were just waiting to get what they needed before they finally showed their true colors.

But, things are different with Beth.

Beth is always looking at him with her big blue eyes, always asking him "are you okay?" even though he always gives her the same answer – yes.

It's _weird_ to him, really. She has nothing to gain from being nice to him. She knows that he won't just stop looking out for her if she wakes up one morning and decides to stop trying to be so cheery when he's such a downer. After all, she's all he's got now.

He tries to get a rise out of her, sometimes. He's as nasty as he can possibly be to her, and every once in a while she'll snap back at him, but at the end of the day she still gives him one of those warm smiles that lets him know she wasn't holding it against him.

Eventually, he stops pushing her. He lets himself be cared for, and in turn, he allows himself to care for her, little by little.

He teaches her to hunt.

She teaches him that it's okay to hope.

When he cries in front of her, he doesn't hate himself afterwards. He still feels a little pathetic, but she's there to hold him until the feeling fades.

They don't ever directly talk about what's brewing between them, but when Beth says "you're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon," he replies "I ain't gonna let you be gone," and they both understand all that it implies.


	2. 2

Their first kiss is an 'accident'.

It somehow manages to happen like in one of those stupid romantic comedies girls like Beth love. She trips, he turns to make sure she's alright, and suddenly her lips are smashed up against his – an impressive feat for someone a good deal shorter than him.

When she pulls away, she's bright red and stammering out apologies. He gives her a shrug and turns around to continue leading them through the woods, ignoring the odd feeling in his stomach.

Their second kiss happens around a campfire along with a confession that the first kiss hadn't really been an accident after all.

Daryl stares at Beth with wonder in his eyes while she speaks, trying to decide if this is some cruel joke – but he knows better. There's not a single cruel bone in her body.

So, when she leans in close, he just shuts his eyes and lets her do her thing.


	3. 3

Beth doesn't fit into Alexandria as well as Daryl thought she would.

She smiles and giggles her way into a caretaker role, which Daryl certainly had expected, but at night when they're sitting together and talking like they used to, her face falls.

"This place isn't safe."

She says it so confidently, and Daryl stares at her like she's grown two heads. He thinks of sturdy walls, of food, of having somewhere to sleep that isn't the ground.

Beth senses his confusion. "I mean, the _place_ is safe, but... the people aren't. They're too caught up in trying to make things like they were before, but, well, things can't be like that anymore, you know? We have to stay present. That's how we survive."

Daryl grunts his agreement, and Beth looks like she wants to say more, but she goes quiet.

He stares at her for a while, watching her look at the stars, and he finds himself wondering again what happened at the hospital. She hadn't talked about it much, just told the group that she was happy to be out of there. But she had changed again, much like she had when they were on their own. She was even stronger now. More cautious. Still hopeful, but in a muted way, like she was saving all of her uplifting thoughts to give to someone who would really benefit from them.

Someone like him.

She turns to him, then, and gives him this huge, beaming smile. "I think everything's gonna be okay, though. We've got each other."

Daryl bumps his shoulder against hers, an act that surprises both Beth and himself, and says "yeah, we do."


End file.
